Leaf with the Annunciation
A single page from a medieval Book of Hours, gold leaf still catching the light.
- Work
- Manuscript Leaf with the Annunciation, from a Book of Hours
- Artist / naturalist
- Unidentified illuminator
- Origin & date
- France or Flanders, 15th century
- Held by
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art (via Wikimedia Commons)
Format
The full-resolution scan, color-managed to the source — yours to print, study, and keep.
Size
$19.00
The story
Books of Hours were the bestsellers of the medieval manuscript world — personal prayer books, commissioned for private devotion and often illuminated with far more lavish artistry than their modest size would suggest, since a wealthy patron's own prayer book was as much a status object as a religious tool. This single leaf, separated from its original bound volume at some point in the centuries since, depicts the Annunciation: the Virgin Mary at prayer as a haloed, green-winged angel appears before her, a white dove of the Holy Spirit descending overhead — one of the most frequently illustrated scenes in the genre, since Books of Hours were structured around the daily prayer cycle the Annunciation traditionally opens. What to notice: the background is real gold leaf, burnished to a mirror shine and worked with a fine tooled pattern — a material extravagance no printed book could ever match, and the reason single leaves like this one survive as prized objects independent of the books they were cut from.
About this reproduction
- Faithful reproduction of a public-domain work, sourced from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (via Wikimedia Commons)’s open-access release.
- Printed to order on 200gsm EMA matte art paper: smooth, no glare.
- Color-managed to the source scan.
- Ships in 5–8 business days; satisfaction guarantee.
